A Paradigm Shift in Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity? Part 1

What is Rheumatoid Arthritis disease activity?

People living with RA know it can affect them in unexpected ways that don’t involve joints. Just reading recent comments here, you can see people talking about these effects of RA:

Drastic weight loss

Frequent low-grade fevers

Ruined teeth from dry mouth or autoimmune activity

Heart or lung damage

Depression

Debilitating fatigue

Various eye problems

Speaking strictly of JOINTS

But even if we speak of joints ONLY, there’s a wide variety of symptoms. If joint exams are done, they are often done in the same ways, documenting only certain manifestations of the disease:

Significant swelling

Obvious deformity

Erosion of bone in joints

But patients describe JOINTS with

Sudden weakness

Enlargement of bones at joints

Tightness of skin attributable to swelling

Gradual drifting, twisting, or deforming

Inability to do usual tasks

Uncharacteristic grinding, clicking, popping noises

Pain from mild to severe

Acute stiffness

Sensations of pulling

Sudden locking or spasms

Swelling from mild to severe

Need for paradigm shift with Rheumatoid Arthritis disease activity

As much as we talk about what’s going on in cells with Rheumatoid Arthritis activity, these lists provide simple evidence of disease activity as patients experience it. However, these symptoms are not typically used to evaluate RA disease activity.